Vodafone: users to pay more for the good stuff

But the big red manufacturer has to cut costs by £1billion

Things aren't as rosy as you might think at one of the world's largest mobile networks, with Vodafone having to cut costs by £1bn over the next two years.

But the plus side to these poorer-than-expected financial results is that the network is looking to make more money out of consumers... wait, this is GOOD news, honest!

It means that it will look at offering subscription-based services, meaning you have to pay a bit more money but get exactly what you want.

Scrapping the plan

New CEO, Vittorio Colao, the man who replaced the recently departed Arun Safin, has also scrapped the company's strategy from 2006. Instead he plans to make Vodafone focus on three key areas: enterprise, mobile data and broadband.

"We will shift our approach away from unit pricing and unit-based tariffs to propositions that deliver much more value to our customers in return for a greater commitment, incremental penetration of the account or more balanced commercial costs," Mr Colao said, according to The Times.

Its first half profits have slumped to just £2.1bn from £3.3bn the year before, with revenues from 2008 likely to fall to around £39bn, from the £40bn previously forecast. The credit crunch just keeps on munching...